25 Pounder Gun Howitzer
|prereq = None |production_struc = Sappers |primary_weapon = OQF 25 Pounder |secondary_weapon = |garrison = |armor = Emplacement |produces = |abilities = 25 Pounder Barrage * Fires 6 shells at a ground target between 35 and 145 meters away. * Costs nothing. * Cooldown: 90 seconds. 25 Pounder Super Charge * Fires 6 shells at a ground target between 35 and 250 meters away. * Requires Royal Artillery Support: Supercharge Artillery Rounds * Replaces the 25 Pounder Barrage ability. * Costs nothing. * Cooldown: 90 seconds. Creeping Barrage * Fires a quick succession of about 15 shells along a 70-meter-long stretch of ground. * Requires Royal Artillery Support: Creeping Barrage * Costs * Cooldown: 90 seconds. Overwatch Barrage * Fires 3 artillery air-burst shells at any enemy unit moving through the designated area. * Artillery can't do anything else while in this mode. * Requires Royal Artillery Support: Overwatch Artillery * Costs nothing. * Permanent until deactivated. * Cooldown: 22 seconds (on cancel) Counter Battery * Fires 4 shells at any enemy artillery launcher. * Artillery can't do anything else while in this mode. * Requires Royal Artillery Support: Counter Battery * Costs nothing. * Permanent until deactivated. * Cooldown: 22 seconds (on cancel) |upgrades = None }} :"25 pounder, prepare for orders!" The 25 pounder Gun Howitzer, or 25 Pounder for short, is a heavy artillery emplacement built by the British in Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts. It can shell targets at a considerable distance, and most importantly: for free. With the Royal Artillery Support tree, the 25 Pounder Gun Howitzer is one of the most powerful weapons in the British arsenal. Overview With the British army operating on the basis of strong defensive positions, it is only naturally that it will field heavy artillery support from behind those defenses. The 25 Pounder Gun Howitzer is often the primary piece of this strategy, both providing a deterrent against enemy attacks, and flattening enemy defensive positions at leisure. Construction of a 25 Pounder Gun Howitzer is available relatively early: it is built by Sappers, who become available shortly after the initial stages of a battle. However, its cost is quite prohibitive: , . It also consumes , making it unlikely to build more than a scant few. It is usually built once the British have established at least one heavily-defended position which can keep the gun safe. When construction is ordered, The Sappers will create an entrenched position, defended by sand-bags from all sides. The 25 Pounder is then placed inside, and is rendered immobile. If the situation calls for the artillery to be moved elsewhere on the map (for example, closer to the front lines), you can always scuttle the emplacement and built a new one where it is needed. The 25 Pounder's primary attack is a 6-shell barrage that can be fired at any point within a certain radius of the gun. Each shell explodes with massive force, damaging virtually everything within a 7-meter radius of the impact. It will kill infantry, destroy light vehicles and armored cars, and even cause significant damage to tanks and buildings. Unfortunately, accuracy drops the further away the gun fires, but it is nonetheless dangerous even at its maximum range. A British commander who specializes in Royal Artillery Support will normally count the 25 Pounder Gun Howitzer as one of his primary weapons (with Priest 105mms being the other one). This is thanks to a copious number of upgrades that both improve the 25 Pounder Gun Howitzer's performance significantly and open up unique new abilities for it to use. The 25 Pounder Gun Howitzer is also one of the most valuable targets for the enemy, so expect it to come under fire a lot. The Howitzer emplacement has no defensive weapons, and cannon even fire at enemies less than 35 meters away. Given its value to you, try to keep it safe at all times, behind a strong line of defensive units. Weapons Abilities 25 Pounder Barrage 25 Pounder Super Charge Creeping Barrage Overwatch Barrage Counter Battery Royal Artillery Support Tactics In Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, the British army is built around a strategy that harks back to the first World War: entrenching a defensive force, building up firepower, launching massive attacks to capture more ground, then entrenching the new territories to advance the line forward, rinse and repeat. In this strategy, artillery support is one of the best tools a British commander can have. It can deter enemies from attacking, fearing the combined might of your static defenses and an accurate artillery shelling. And it can significantly soften up enemy positions in support of a British advance. In either capacity, the 25 Pounder Gun Howitzer is one of the more powerful units on the battlefield. The 25 Pounder becomes available surprisingly early: as soon as a Sappers squad is created and enough Fuel is gathered to pay its hefty cost. For this reason, the actual timing of a 25 Pounder's appearance on the battlefield depends largely on strategic decisions: i.e. the British commander's personal style. If emphasis is going to be placed on artillery, this gun may even be built as soon as it becomes available, to provide a very powerful support for early defensive construction efforts. Players with little dependence on artillery can hold off its construction until much later, when artillery is required for punching through enemy defenses in order to take their sectors more easily. And some players - but not many - even skip this gun entirely. Once it is built though, the gun is a focus of power. It can dish out a lot of damage to the enemy, if used correctly, and thus is one of the most lucrative targets for enemy attacks. Since it lacks any defenses of its own (except the sand bags...), the 25 Pounder must be defended as well as possible against those attacks. Placement There are two main approaches possible when deciding where to place a 25 Pounder Gun Howitzer. Unlike other British emplacements, it can be used both offensively and defensively, and placement depends largely on which of these uses is more important to you. To use artillery offensively, it should be placed as close to the front lines as can be allowed. This will allow it to fire deep into enemy territory, and can thus be used to support advances, destroy enemy production, obliterate enemy rally points, etcetera. A gun at the front lines is also more accurate when firing at enemy troops advancing on your positions, since its close-range accuracy is much better. However, this exposes the gun to damage, and gives the enemy a good target to hit with full force - punching quickly through your lines simply to destroy the cannon and retreat. Some commanders reduce this risk by putting extra fortifications on the line in front of and around the artillery. Defensive artillery tactics put the gun further behind your lines, preferably on high ground. The distance from the enemy is often sufficient to protect it, and a mobile defense team can respond easily if any enemy unit somehow sneaks into your territory. This saves a lot of resources on extra defenses for the gun. The cannon is then used to provide heavy artillery support for defensive operations, bombarding any enemy unit foolish enough to come close to your lines. In can even use long-range fire to plug holes in your defensive line until you get the chance to fortify them with other emplacements. Offensive Fire The majority of players will construct a 25 Pounder Gun Howitzer for use as an offensive weapon. It is the only British emplacement designed for offense, and this is thanks to its great range. Without any extra upgrades, the 25 Pounder can hit targets up to 140 meters away - almost half a map's length. This usually means well beyond your front lines, deep into enemy territory - possibly even all the way to their base. Defensive Fire Royal Artillery Support Weaknesses Historical Data Quotes Gallery Game Info The 25 pounder Gun Howitzer or known as Ordnance QF 25 pounder or simply 25 pounder is a major British field gun/howitzer introduced into service just before World War II. It was fielded extensively by the British and was considered to be the best artillery piece of the war, with a high rate of fire, lethal firepower, and a very long range. It served even after World War II and is used even today by many nations, making it one of the longest serving artillery guns of the 20th century. Unlike it's real life counterpart, which is a mobile artillery piece, the 25 pounder Gun Howitzer featured in Company of Heroes was limited as a defensive structure to balance its usage, similarly to the Flak 88 and 17 pounder AT Gun. Although immobile, the 25 pounder Gun Howitzer live up its reputation as one of the best artillery piece in the game. Its higher rate of fire, long range and massive firepower making it all Axis Commander's worst nightmare. The 25 pounder Gun Howitzer can be constructed in any friendly territory without special upgrade as long as Sappers are available on the battlefield. Making it easily available even in tier 2. The 25 pounder Gun Howitzer is a devastating weapon, its conventional shell can fire upon fog of war, wipe out infantry, vehicles and turn buildings into rubble. Besides for its conventional shell, the 25 pounder Gun Howitzer also gain different kind of ability from the Royal Artillery Support. First is the supercharge artillery shot, this allows the 25 pounder Gun Howitzer to fire at a longer range and dealing a wider splash damage. Creeping Barrage, with munition allows the it to fire in a line as the artillery barrage was walking along a path. Counterbattery, allows it to counter fire against any artillery weapons that attack its position. And the overwatch artillery, this ability allow the 25 pounder Gun Howitzer to automatically fire upon a marked area with enemy spotted until all enemy activity is cease upon that area. The combination of these ability make the 25 pounder Gun Howitzer a very powerful weapon for both defensive and offensive operation. 350px|right|The 25 pounder Gun Howitzer at close view. Because of its importance, protecting the 25 pounder Gun Howitzer is a requirement for it to continue operation. Support it with infantry such as Infantry Section & Sappers, tanks such as Sherman Fireflys or Churchill Tanks, defensive structures such as Vicker machine Gun Nest & 17 pounder AT Gun, the 25 pounder Gun Howitzer can be free out of harms way and lay down a rain of fire and steel upon its enemies. Weakness Its high cost and large population cap of 10 make the 25 pounder Gun Howitzer pretty expensive to build. Although powerful, the 25 pounder Gun Howitzer is used as a static artillery emplacement much like the others. It can't move away or dodge for cover when under attack by other units. Although its shell has a very long range, it can't fire at close range due to its 55 degree above elevation. It is also lightly protected, making it highly vunerble to close range attack. Without support, any kind of infantry, armoured cars and tanks can take it out fairly easily since its crew is exposed in the open similarly to support weapons. If the crew is killed but the artillery remains intacted, it can be captured much like other weapons and can be turned against thier original user. A 25 pounder Gun Howitzer firing back is the last thing any Allies Commander wants. Axis Commanders can also charge these artillery emplacement with superheavy tanks such as the King Tiger and Jagdpanther or fast assault unit such as the Panzer IV Infantry Support Tank, Panzer Grenadier, Stormtrooper Squad and others . left|300px|The 25 pounder Gun Howitzer fire supercharge round. left|300px|thumb|Surprisingly, for a large artillery piece and take up a population cap of 8, the 25 pounder is only operated by a crew of 2. A loader(right) and a spotter/gunner(left) Category:Defensive Structure Category:Support Weapon Category:British Units